Method and system for automatic beam allocation in a multi-room particle beam treatment facility

ABSTRACT

The present invention is related to a method and a system for automatically allocating a particle beam to one of a plurality of treatment rooms. Upon receiving a request from one of the beam users, the system checks whether the beam is available and may automatically allocate the beam to the requesting room. Otherwise, the request may be put on a waiting list of pending requests, in a position which depends on the priority level (and arrival lime) coupled to said request.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a method and accompanying software,as well as a system for scheduling a beam in multi-room particle beamtreatment facilities.

STATE OF THE ART

Particle beam treatment, in particular proton beam treatment, is widelyused in medical environments. Facilities offering such treatments oftenconsist of one beam source, such as a cyclotron, and a plurality oftreatment rooms, each equipped for example with a rotary gantry or afixed beam apparatus for irradiating a patient who is positioned insidethe treatment room. Beam transport lines connect the cyclotron with thetreatment rooms. Such beam lines consist of a succession of magnets forconditioning and deflecting the beam and guiding it towards one of thetreatment rooms.

In existing facilities, the allocation of the beam to a treatment roomis performed manually. With allocation is meant the selecting of aparticular beam line through which an irradiation session is to takeplace. The beam is allocated during the whole of the treatment cycle,but the beam is not actually irradiating during this whole time.

A typical facility is shown in the enclosed FIG. 1, and comprises fourtreatment rooms, TR1 to TR4. Treatment control rooms TCR1 to TCR4 arepresent near every treatment room. A TCR computer is located in everyTCR. The TCRs comprise the operator interface and communicationequipment and screens with which the TCR-operator may perform thetreatment cycle, in communication with the main control room MCR,wherein one operator supervises and controls the treatments taking placein the various TRs. A MCR computer is located in the MCR and is linkedwith the TCR computer through a high speed local area network.

Any treatment starts with a beam request coming from one of the TR/TCRsIn the known methods wherein the allocation is done manually, such arequest is acknowledged by the operator in the MCR, which will thenmanually allocate the beam to the relevant treatment room, when the beambecomes available.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,581 discloses a method of treatment room selectionverification in a radiation beam therapy system comprising a pluralityof treatment rooms. This document addresses the problem of security byverifying the authenticity of a beam request signal. However, thisdocument does not discuss the problem of allocating the beam whenmultiple beam requests are issued with various characteristics andrequirements

The known manual mode holds a risk of human error. Also, an optimum useof the various treatment rooms is not guaranteed, nor is it certain thatthe MCR operator will allocate a given beam line with the priorityrequested. Especially when many requests-follow each other in closesuccession, the risk of error increases. Communication among manyoperators and therapists, separated from each other through thickshielding walls, unnecessary time delays will occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to a method and system as described in theappended claims, and to a software tool for performing this method.

According to the method of the invention, the MCR-operator does notintervene in the allocation of the relevant beam line. Instead, when thebeam is available, the allocation takes place automatically. If the beamis not available, the request is automatically put on a waiting list(queued). The position of the request on the list, i.e. the order inwhich the requests are listed, depends on a priority level connected tothe request. For a high priority request, a forced release of the beamcan be performed, depending on the priority level of the request forwhich the beam had been allocated. When the beam operation is finished,the method of the invention allows automatic beam release, depending onthe priority with which the beam had been requested.

The invention is equally related to software which governs thisautomatic beam scheduling method, and allows switching to the knownmanual mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 describes an irradiation facility to which the method of theinvention can be applied.

FIG. 2 shows the flow diagram according to which the method of theinvention takes place.

FIG. 3 to 5 illustrate the difference between allocation and use of thebeam for a service priority request, a high priority request, and anormal priority request, respectively. FIG. 5 illustrates the automaticbeam release in case of a normal priority request.

FIG. 6 to 11 show different screen shots of a possible softwareimplementation of the method of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to a method and system for performing automaticallocation of a particle beam in a facility such as the one shown inFIG. 1 (possibly with a different number of treatment rooms). A specialfeature of the invention concerns the automatic termination of theallocation, under predefined circumstances. As seen in FIG. 1, aTreatment Control Room (TCR1 to TCR4) is present next to each TreatmentRoom (TR1 to TR4). In every TCR/TR a Beam User may be active who mayrequest the beam for use and use it for treating a patient. The beamuser may launch the beam request or other communications from aninterface screen in the TCR or from a second screen in the TR. For thepurposes of this invention, it is not important whether two screens areavailable (one in the TCR and one in the TR). It could be sufficient tohave one screen in the TCR. What is important is that the beam user isprovided with at least one interface screen from which to communicatewith the Main Control Room computer. In the main control room, the BeamOperator is present and may supervise the automatic allocation. The BeamOperator is equally sitting before an interface screen, allowing him tocommunicate with the different Beam Users in the different TR/TCR's.According to the preferred embodiment, the facility can still beoperated in manual mode, i.e. with manual allocation of the beam to thetreatment rooms, as known in the art. The software of the inventionallows flexible switching by the Beam Operator, between automatic modeand manual mode. The method of the invention is exclusively concernedhowever with the automatic mode.

The operation of this automatic mode is illustrated in the flow diagramof FIG. 2. A number of definitions are given first

-   -   the ‘system’: this is defined as the totality of means enabling        the allocation of the beam to a treatment room, and the        treatment of a patient in said room. The system of the invention        is characterized by the means to allocate the beam        automatically.    -   Room is ‘allocated’: this refers to the period from the moment 1        on which the system selects the beam line until the beam release        2 (see FIG. 3). During the allocation period, the beam can only        be used in the room to which it is allocated. The beam release        at point 4 is linked to the priority level of a particular beam        request, as will be explained further in this description.    -   Beam is ‘used’: this refers to the period from the moment 3 on        which the user asks a beam tuning until the end of irradiation 4        (see also FIG. 3). Within a period of beam use, the actual field        5 takes place.    -   ‘Beam Operator (BO)’: the MCR operator responsible to supervise        or to control the beam (allocation, delivery, . . . ).    -   ‘Beam User (BU)’ a Radiotherapist or anybody who uses the beam.        The beam user is present in one of the treatment (control)        rooms.

As seen in FIG. 2, the method of the invention starts with a beamrequest 100, coming from one of the Beam Users in one of the TR/TCRs.Each request is given a priority level by the person making the request.According to the preferred embodiment, three levels are defined: high,normal and service priority. The sowtware of the MCR computer checks(101) the level of priority of the incoming request.

A high priority is given to any urgent treatment for which the beamneeds to be allocated to a particular room as quickly as possible. Ahigh priority may for example be given to the treatment of a child underanaesthesia. A normal priority is given for any standard treatment whichdoes not require immediate allocation, unless the beam is availableanyway.

The service priority is the lowest level of priority and represents aspecial case. The beam can be requested by a beam user with a servicepriority when maintenance or other technical interventions need to bedone in the TR. Before the service priority request can be launched, thebeam user has to switch the TR to ‘service mode’ which defines adifferent set of parameters than the ‘treatment mode’ during whichnormal and high priority requests can be done. Therefore, servicepriority will be described in a somewhat separate way from the normaltreatment sequences. It is also possible for the complete system to beput in the ‘service mode’, by the beam operator. In this system servicemode, automatic allocation of the beam towards one of the rooms isdisabled, so the method of the invention doesn't really apply to thismode. The special features related to these three priority levels willbe described later in the description.

For a request with a Normal priority, a check 102 is made first, to findout whether the room issuing the request is not in Lockout mode. If itis, the beam request is rejected (103) by the system and a message issent back to the beam user. Lockout mode is a mechanism used to preventallocation of the beam to a (or several) treatment room(s). This lock isactivated or deactivated in a configuration file, for each TRindividually. A TR may for example be put in Lockout mode duringmaintenance or upgrade.

If the room is not in Lockout mode, the software of the MCR computermust check (104) whether or not the beam is already allocated to one ofthe other treatment rooms. If so, the request is recorded as pending(105), and the BU of the requesting room, the BO, and the other BU's areinformed (106) of the new pending request, and the beam is allocated andused as soon as it becomes available (400). If not, the software of theMCR computer automatically allocates the beam (107) to the requestingroom, whose BU is informed of this (108), as are the BO, and other BU's.At this point; the beam may be used (109).

When the beam request has a high priority, the system equally checks(200) whether the room is in lockout mode. If so, the request isrejected (201). If not, a check 202 is performed by the software of theMCR whether or not the beam is already allocated to another room.

If the beam is not already allocated, the automatic allocation takesplace (203), and the BU's and BO are informed of this (204), after whichthe beam can be used (205). If the beam is already allocated, a furthercheck (206) is made on the priority of the request for which the beam isallocated at that time. If this priority is normal, a further check(207) is made as to whether the beam is actually in use (FIG. 3, betweenpoints 3 and 4). If not, the release of the beam is automatically forced(208) by the software of the MCR computer, and the request for which thebeam had been allocated is put back in the waiting list (209) (in aplace defined by its priority level). BU's and BO are informed (210) ofthe beam release, and the beam is allocated (203) to the room issuingthe high priority request. If the beam was in use, the high priorityrequest is recorded as pending (211), and BU's and BO are informed ofthe pending request (212). In this case, the request will be put as highas possible in the waiting list of pending requests, preceding all othernon-high priority requests, and will be processed as soon as theprevious high-priority requests have been finished and the beam becomesavailable (401).

If the request for which the beam was already allocated had a highpriority, the new request is automatically recorded as pending (213),and will take a place in the waiting list of pending requests precedingall pending non-high priority requests. All parties are informed of thepending request (214). The beam is allocated and used as soon as itbecomes available (402).

If the request for which the beam was allocated had a service priority,the system requests a beam release (215) from the room in question. Thebeam in service request can only be released by the beam user in the TCRsince, in service request, there is no predefined process followed andit is not known when the beam can be released as this depends on whetherthe beam user will have finished his calibration or experimentation. Thebeam user in the TR/TCR will receive a message from the MCR, for examplea pop-up window possibly accompanied by an audio signal, informing himof the MCR's request to release the beam. As soon as the beam user hasreleased the beam (216), the beam is allocated (203) to the room fromwhich the high-priority request was received.

When the beam request 100 has a service priority, once again, thelockout check is performed first (300), and the request is rejected(103) when the room is in Lockout mode. If this is not the case, thesteps (104, followed.

The invention is related to a software tool able to manage the stepsdescribed above and in the flow diagram of FIG. 2.

Preferably, the software includes a means for switching between theautomatic mode, which is basically the method of the invention, and themanual mode, which is the known method. In the manual mode, all stepswhich are performed automatically in the scheme of FIG. 2, such as beamallocation, and forced beam release, are commanded by the Beam Operatorin the Main control room. It is of course desirable to have a systemwhich can switch between the two modes, to allow intervention by the BOat all times. In automatic mode however, the system will work moreefficiently, waiting times will be reduced, and the risk of error isminimized.

Whenever in the diagram of FIG. 2, a request is recorded as pending(105,211,213), the request is added to a waiting list of pendingrequests. At all times, the high priority requests are at the top ofthat list, followed by the normal priority requests, and the servicepriority requests. One could say that the system actually makes aseparate list for each of the three priority levels. Every new requestthat must be put on hold will enter the appropriate list at the end.High priority requests are always accepted before any other normal orservice priority request, but not before a previously pending highpriority request. Normal priority requests are only accepted when thehigh priority list is empty, while service requests are accepted whenboth the high and normal priority waiting lists are empty.

The method shown in the flow diagram of FIG. 2 is related to the way inwhich an incoming request is handled. Once a request is put on thewaiting list, this part of the method ends. However, the method is alsorelated to the automatic allocation of a request which has spent acertain amount of time on the list. This automatic allocation takesplace by the system of the invention, when there is no request with ahigher priority level in said list, or no requests with the samepriority level but received earlier, are preceding said request in saidlist. In other words, as soon as a request with a normal priority comeson top of the ‘normal priority’ list, and no high priority is pending,the normal priority request is accepted automatically, as soon as thebeam becomes available: the beam is then allocated automatically to therequesting room.

According to the preferred embodiment, after the beam has been allocatedto a room, the actual beam use, between points 3 and 4 (FIG. 3) takesplace according to a known method, involving beam tuning and the actualfield duration 5.

After the treatment, the method of the invention is finished by therelease of the beam. This beam release according to the invention,depends on the priority level of the original request.

FIG. 3 shows a beam allocation with a service priority, wherein onefield 5 is performed. At the end of the beam use period (point 4), thebeam remains allocated to the room. The beam release 2 can only beinitiated by the beam user.

FIG. 4 shows a high priority request with two different field, whereinthe configuration needs to be changed in between fields. The beam userends the first beam use period at point 4, but because the priority ishigh, the system automatically continues to allocate the beam to thisroom. At point 3′, the second treatment starts, ended at point 4′, afterwhich the beam is released at point 2 (end of beam allocation period).These procedures show that during high priority requests, it isprimarily the beam user who decides when the beam use period as well asthe beam allocation period are to be terminated. In the case of FIG. 4,the beam user might release the beam between beam use periods, if thechange of the TR-configuration is expected to take a long time. In thatcase, the beam might be allocated to another room in between the twofields 5.

For a normal priority request, the system of the invention terminatesthe allocation period automatically, at the end of a beam use period,see FIG. 5. This allows the beam to become available automatically atthe end of any normal priority treatment request. This feature helps toavoid unnecessary time delays.

During automatic beam scheduling mode, the beam operator is capable ofchanging the order of the pending requests of the same priority.However, it is not possible to put a normal priority request before ahigh priority request for example. Also, the BO can flush certainpending requests, i.e. remove them from the waiting list.

In the following pages, a number of possible interface screens for theBeam operator are described, with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11.

FIG. 6 shows the situation where there is no allocated treatment roomand no beam request. The mode is manual. Button 10 allows the BO toswitch between manual and automatic mode. A number of flush buttons 11to 14 are present. Button 11 allows the BO to flush all pendingrequests. Button 12, 13 and 14 allow the BO respectively to flushrequests with service, normal or high priority. This ‘flush’ capabilityis preferably present both during manual and automatic mode. Theupper-part of the screen is split in two sub-windows

The right part displays information about the allocated room

The left part displays information about pending beam requests. This isthe waiting list (queue) wherein incoming requests are entered dependingon their priority level.

The lower-part of the screen gives the historic of all events related tobeam scheduling.

FIG. 7 shows the situation where treatment room 3 requests a highpriority beam and room 1 a normal. The system is in Manual BeamScheduling mode, and waiting for a Beam Operator request.

The system displays the information in the order of the automatic beamscheduling selection. So first the Highest priority requests, then theothers with a First-In/First-Out policy.

FIG. 8 shows the situation when the BO accepts the high priority requestof treatment room 3. The request of room 1 is recorded as pending.Because there is an allocated beam, the Accept button of room 1 beamrequest is disabled.

FIG. 9 shows the situation where the Beam Operator changes the BeamScheduling Mode to Automatic. Nothing changes for allocated and pendingrequests, except that the Beam Operator can not Accept or Reject a BeamRequest and can not Release the allocated beam. The ‘Flush’ buttons andthe Step Down/Up in Order button (not shown) remain activated (similaras Manual Scheduling Mode).

FIG. 10 shows the situation when room 2 requests the beam using normalpriority. It is put in the waiting list of pending requests behind thealready pending request from room 1.

FIG. 11 shows the situation when room 3 releases the beam and room 1 isautomatically allocated.

1. A method for scheduling particle beam treatment operations in afacility comprising an irradiation source able to produce a beam, aplurality of treatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) inconnection with said treatment rooms, said facility being equipped witha system for allocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasingthe beam from one of said treatment rooms, said method comprising thesteps of: receiving a request from a treatment room, for allocation ofthe beam to said room, said request having a priority level,automatically performing the following steps; checking whether the beamis already allocated to a room, finding that the beam is not alreadyallocated, allocating the beam to the room from which said request wasreceived.
 2. A method for scheduling particle beam treatment operationsin a facility comprising an irradiation source able to produce a beam, aplurality of treatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) inconnection with said treatment rooms, said facility being equipped witha system for allocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasingthe beam from one of said treatment rooms, said method comprising thesteps of: receiving a request from a treatment room, for allocation ofthe beam to said room, said request having a priority level, checkingwhether the beam is already allocated to a room, finding that the beamis already allocated, forcing the release of the beam, allocating thebeam to the room from which said request was received.
 3. A method forscheduling particle beam treatment operations in a facility comprisingan irradiation source able to produce a beam, a plurality of treatmentrooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) in connection with saidtreatment rooms, said facility being equipped with a system forallocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasing the beam fromone of said treatment rooms, said method comprising the steps of:receiving a request from a treatment room, for allocation of the beam tosaid room, said request having a priority level, checking whether thebeam is already allocated to a room, finding that the beam is alreadyallocated, putting said request on a waiting list, wherein said requestis placed in a position on said list, said position being dependent onsaid priority level, and when no requests with a higher priority levelare in said list, or no requests with the same priority level arepreceding said request in said list (i.e. were received earlier thansaid request), allocating the beam to the room from which said requestwas received, as soon as the beam becomes available.
 4. A method forscheduling particle beam treatment operations in a facility comprisingan irradiation source able to produce a beam, a plurality of treatmentrooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) in connection with saidtreatment rooms, said facility being equipped with a system forallocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasing the beam fromone of said treatment rooms, said method comprising the steps of:receiving a request from a treatment room, for allocation of the beam tosaid room, said request having a priority level, checking whether thebeam is already allocated to a room, finding that the beam is alreadyallocated, requesting the beam user in said room to release the beam,when said beam is released, allocating the beam to the room from whichsaid request was received.
 5. The method according to claim 1, whereinsaid beam is allocated during an allocation period, and within saidallocation period, said beam is used for irradiation during a useperiod, and wherein said method further comprising the step ofautomatically releasing the beam at the conclusion of said use period.6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said priority level ischosen from the group of priorities selected from the group of service,normal, high, and wherein said step of automatically releasing the beamis only applied when said request has a normal priority.
 7. A method forscheduling particle beam treatment operations in a facility comprisingan irradiation source able to produce a beam, a plurality of treatmentrooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) in connection with saidtreatment rooms, said facility being equipped with a system forallocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasing the beam fromone of said treatment rooms, said method comprising the steps of:receiving a request from a treatment room for allocation of the beam tosaid room, said request having a priority level, said level being chosenfrom the group of priorities selected from the group of service, normal,high: checking the priority level of said request, finding that therequest has a normal or service priority, checking whether the beam isalready allocated to a room, finding that the beam is not alreadyallocated, allocating the beam to the room from which said request wasreceived.
 8. A method for scheduling particle beam treatment operationsin a facility comprising an irradiation source able to produce a beam, aplurality of treatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) inconnection with said treatment rooms, said facility being equipped witha system for allocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasingthe beam from one of said treatment rooms, said method comprising thesteps of: receiving a request from a treatment room for allocation ofthe beam to said room, said request having a priority level, said levelbeing chosen from the group of priorities selected from the group ofservice, normal, high: automatically performing the following steps:checking the priority level of said request, finding that the requesthas a normal or service priority, checking whether the beam is alreadyallocated to a room, finding that the beam is already allocated, puttingsaid request on a waiting list, wherein said request is placed in aposition on said list, said position being dependent on said prioritylevel, and when no requests with a higher priority level are in saidlist, or no requests with the same priority level are preceding saidrequest in said list (i.e. were received earlier than said request),allocating the beam to the room from which said request was received, assoon as the beam becomes available.
 9. A method for scheduling particlebeam treatment operations in a facility comprising an irradiation sourceable to produce a beam, a plurality of treatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), amain control room (MCR) in connection with said treatment rooms, saidfacility being equipped with a system for allocating the beam to, usingthe beam in, and releasing the beam from one of said treatment rooms,said method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from atreatment room for allocation of the beam to said room, said requesthaving a priority level, said level being chosen from the group ofpriorities selected from the group of service, normal, high:automatically performing the following steps: checking the prioritylevel of said request, finding that the request has a high priority,checking whether the beam is already allocated to a room, finding thatthe beam is not allocated, allocating the beam to the room from whichsaid request was received.
 10. A method for scheduling particle beamtreatment operations in a facility comprising an irradiation source ableto produce a beam, a plurality of treatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), a maincontrol room (MCR) in connection with said treatment rooms, saidfacility being equipped with a system for allocating the beam to, usingthe beam in, and releasing the beam from one of said treatment rooms,said method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from atreatment room for allocation of the beam to said room, said requesthaving a priority level, said level being chosen from the group ofpriorities given selected from the group of service, normal, high:checking the priority level of said request, finding that the requesthas a high priority, checking whether the beam is already allocated to aroom, finding that the beam is allocated, checking the priority level ofthe request for which the beam is currently allocated to said room,finding that priority level to be normal, checking whether the beam isin use, finding that the beam is not in use, forcing the release of thebeam, allocating the beam to the room from which said request wasreceived.
 11. A method for scheduling particle beam treatment operationsin a facility comprising an irradiation source able to produce a beam, aplurality of treatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) inconnection with said treatment rooms, said facility being equipped witha system for allocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasingthe beam from one of said treatment rooms, said method comprising thesteps of: receiving a request from a treatment room for allocation ofthe beam to said room, said request having a priority level, said levelbeing chosen from the group of priorities selected from the group ofservice, normal, high: checking the priority level of said request,finding that the request has a high priority, checking whether the beamis already allocated to a room, finding that the beam is allocated,checking the priority level of the request for which the beam iscurrently allocated to said room, finding that priority level to benormal, checking whether the beam is in use, finding that the beam is inuse, putting said request on a waiting list of pending requests, whereinsaid request is placed in a position on said list, said position beingdependent on said priority level, and when no requests with a higherpriority level are in said list, or no requests with the same prioritylevel are preceding said request in said list (i.e. were receivedearlier than said request), allocating the beam to the room from whichsaid request was received, as soon as the beam becomes available.
 12. Amethod for scheduling particle beam treatment operations in a facilitycomprising an irradiation source able to produce a beam, a plurality oftreatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), a main control room (MCR) in connectionwith said treatment rooms, said facility being equipped with a systemfor allocating the beam to, using the beam in, and releasing the beamfrom one of said treatment rooms, said method comprising the steps of:receiving a request from a treatment room for allocation of the beam tosaid room, said request having a priority level, said level being chosenfrom the group of priorities selected from the group of service, normal,high: automatically performing the following steps: checking thepriority level of said request, finding that the request has a highpriority, checking whether the beam is already allocated to a room,finding that the beam is allocated, checking the priority level of therequest for which the beam is currently allocated to said room, findingthat the priority level to be high, putting said request on a waitinglist of pending requests, where said request is placed in a position onsaid list, said position being dependent on said priority level, andwhen no requests with a higher priority level are in said list, or norequests with the same priority level are preceding said request in saidlist (i.e. were received earlier than said request), allocating the beamto the room from which said request was received, as soon as the beambecomes available.
 13. A method for scheduling particle beam treatmentoperations in a facility comprising an irradiation source able toproduce a beam, a plurality of treatment rooms (TR1 to TR4), a maincontrol room (MCR) in connection with said treatment rooms, saidfacility being equipped with a system for allocating the beam to, usingthe beam in, and releasing the beam from one of said treatment rooms,said method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from atreatment room for allocation of the beam to said room, said requesthaving a priority level, said level being chosen from the group ofpriorities selected from the group of service, normal, high:automatically performing the following steps: checking the prioritylevel of said request, finding that the request has a high priority,checking whether the beam is already allocated to a room, finding thatthe beam is allocated, checking the priority level of the request forwhich the beam is currently allocated to said room, finding that thepriority level to be a service priority, requesting the beam user insaid room to release the beam, when said beam is released, allocatingthe beam to the room from which said request was received.
 14. Acomputer program comprising program code means for performing the methodof claim 1 when said program is run on a computer.
 15. A computerprogram comprising program code means stored on a computer readablemedium for performing the method of claim 14, when said program is runon a computer.
 16. A system for scheduling particle beam operationsaccording to the method of claim 1, comprising: a computer having amemory, at least one interface screen in every Treatment Control Roomand/or every Treatment Room, at least one interface screen in the MainControl Room, a means for automatically checking the priority level ofan incoming request, a means for automatically checking whether the beamis already allocated to a room, a means for automatically allocating thebeam to a room, a means for automatically forcing a beam release from aroom, and a means for automatically requesting a beam user to releasethe beam.